Sunday

Mar 3, 2019 at 5:50 PMMar 3, 2019 at 5:53 PM

FITCHBURG — The Monty Tech girls’ basketball team might have survived its encounter with Quaboag in the first round of the Central Mass. Division 4 Tournament, but on Saturday at home against eighth-seeded Douglas the top-seeded Bulldogs thrived.

Senior point guard Emily St. Thomas scored a game-high 24 points to lead three Monty Tech players in double figures while the Bulldogs’ 1-3-1 defense gave the visiting Tigers fits throughout the evening. It all added up to a dominant showing by Monty Tech as it cruised to a 62-35 quarterfinal victory over Douglas in its final game inside Bulldog Gym this season.

Arianna Saladini, a freshman, added 13 points, while senior Erica Regan contributed 10 as the Bulldogs advanced to the District semifinals for the second consecutive year. Monty Tech (21-3) will face Colonial Athletic League rival Blackstone Valley Tech on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. at Clark University in Worcester.

“Everybody had a part in this win tonight, the energy was incredible,” said Monty Tech’s Emily St. Thomas, who noted the Bulldogs are thrilled to return to the semifinals a year after their season ended in the same round with a loss to eventual District champion Maynard. “Last year was a tough way to finish up in the semifinals so we’re excited to have a chance to go back and try to take things one step further and make the finals.”

Monty Tech head coach Scott Malboeuf said the Bulldogs’ goal each year has been to progress further than the year before. Saturday’s victory over the Tigers (14-8) provides the Bulldogs the opportunity to do just that as a win over Valley Tech would advance Monty Tech to its first District championship game appearance since the late 1980s.

“This, getting to Clark University, was one of our goals, we wanted the opportunity to try to redeem ourselves from last year,” said Malboeuf. “I think we’re playing some of our best basketball right now which is where you want to be at this point in the season.”

The Bulldogs never trailed in this one, jumping out to a 7-0 lead three and a half minutes into the contest and stretching it to an 11-3 cushion two minutes later.

The Tigers hung tough to close the first quarter, ending the frame with six straight points to pull within 11-9 after eight minutes.

The Bulldogs opened the second frame looking to build their lead back up as it responded with an 8-0 run. St. Thomas got the spurt started with a layup and a foul, knocking down the free throw to complete the three-point play. Buckets by Regan and a trey by Saladini highlighted the run.

Monty Tech kept its foot on the gas pedal over the remainder of the half. Key buckets by Rebecca Whittier and St. Thomas and a pair of free throws by Ashley Girouard helped the hosts push the lead to double digits, 29-18 heading into halftime.

Unlike last Thursday’s contest in which Monty Tech nearly watched a 30-point lead over Quaboag vanish in an eventual five-point victory, the Bulldogs created even more separation between themselves in the Tigers in the second half of Saturday’s quarterfinal.

Sticking with its 1-3-1 zone defense, Monty Tech limited Douglas to just three field goals in the frame while putting up 15 points on the offensive end to build a 44-25 lead. Ashley Femino and Saladini each buried 3-pointers during their team’s strong third quarter, but the bulk of the points came from Monty Tech pushing the ball up the floor off of defensive rebounds or Douglas turnovers.

Playing Regan, Monty Tech’s center, at the top of the zone gave the Tigers fits as the senior’s length allowed her to deflect a handful of Douglas’ skip passes across the court.

“A lot of teams don't know how to handle it because we put the three up top and we drop our weak side guard down and when they start trying to put the two down below we always try to over shank the strong side and we get a lot of steals that way,” Malboeuf said of the Bulldogs’ preferred defense. “I watched some film on Douglas and knew they try to use that skip pass a lot over the top and we were able to take it away from them.”

Monty Tech was never in danger over the final eight minutes, outscoring the Tigers 18-10 en route to the lopsided victory and setting up the fourth meeting of the season between Valley Tech and Monty Tech in Wednesday night’s semifinal.

“The girls played outstanding tonight, they played 32 minutes of defense which is what we strive for,” said Malboeuf. “Now we go play a familiar opponent. Blackstone knows us and we know them. It’s an exciting opportunity for us to go back to the semifinals.”

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